As is well know, a great number of such "FPC" and "FFC" or flexible printed circuit members are used in many applications, and the electrical connectors for connecting conductors on such boards or cables to other printed circuit boards are used accordingly.
The prior art connectors of this type are generally constructed in such a way that a connector housing has an opening or slot provided at the front end thereof and the printed circuit member is laterally inserted into such opening or slot of the housing so that each of the conductors on the printed circuit member will make contact with the contact portion of each terminal in the housing.
The prior art connectors described above, however, have a disadvantage in that in order to connect each of the conductors on the printed circuit member with the contact portion of each of the terminals in the housing, two separate operations must be done. The first operation is the lateral insertion of the mating end of the printed circuit member into the front opening or slot of the connector housing. The second operation is the-depression of the mating end of the printed circuit member after the insertion. Particularly for the insertion of the printed circuit member, it is difficult for a human operator to align the mating end portion of the printed circuit member board to the slot or opening for insertion because of the slot being positioned in front end of the housing.
With the recent tendency of realizing more and more compactness and low profile of the electrical connector, the size of the front slot for insertion of the printed circuit member has been significantly reduced. This makes it more and more difficult for the operator to properly align the mating end portion of the printed circuit member to the front slot of the connector housing.